Eastern Railroad Discussion > PTC Question for the masses?

Over in Meroidian Ms just to the west and alongside I20/59 thru here, I noticed that KCS has installed the required PTC equipment. One thing that has caught my eye, is the PTC Tower or whatever it's called has a flashing strobe light on top. It is the only one I have seen of these. What's the story behind the "flasher" ?  Ben

Depending on height it may be required, if not that unusually tall, that it may be near an airport or airfield. We have flashers on high tension power lines that are within the approach of our local airport.

CG


ns2557 Wrote:
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> Over in Meroidian Ms just to the west and
> alongside I20/59 thru here, I noticed that KCS has
> installed the required PTC equipment. One thing
> that has caught my eye, is the PTC Tower or
> whatever it's called has a flashing strobe light
> on top. It is the only one I have seen of these.
> What's the story behind the "flasher" ?  Ben



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/17 04:47 by CGTower.

There is an airport just south of I-20 and I-59 at that location.  As with all airports, FAA requires towers exceeding a certain height and within a certain distance must be marked with a flashing light.  In years past, I have even seen such lights on pole lines along railroads that crossed near the ends of runways.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/17 21:24 by czephyr17.

There is a church on top of a hill in Oberlin,PA. that has a flashing red light on top of its bell tower, apparently due to its proximity to Harrisburg International Airport.

Posted from Android

It could be that they are trying to be proactive on new FAA rules that are expected to come out.     The following is lifted from a wireless industry website:
"When President Obama signed the “FAA Extension, Safety and Security Act of 2016,” legislation allowing the FAA to continue operations through Sept. 30, 2017, tucked away in the 51-page rule was Section 2110. TOWER MARKING, a new requirement whose genesis came from a concern for crop duster pilots who had to fly near meteorological towers that were not marked."
The law as written would affect towers between 50' and 200' as designated by the FAA.    The FAA has not issued their rule making yet that would determine what exceptions there might be.    50' is not all that tall for a tower, and the railroads are quite concerned about this.   If they are required to put little red lights on every tower along the ROW that is 50' tall or more, that could be a both a safety and cost concern.

Stephen